Shite in Miniature II

[MiniMinorMk3]

3 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

 

Both got crap wheels like most of the ones I see. I wonder how they all got through QC like it

They were probably OK when they left the factory.

Various old diecasts suffer the same problem of tyres reacting with plastic wheels.

[flat4alfa]

The Vectis auction mentions

Quote

 with usual reaction between hubs & tyres

 

[Datsuncog]

Yeah, I think it's an unfortunate chemical reaction between the hub and the tyre causing that grot round the rim - it wouldn't have been there when new, but 50+ years later...

Wasn't there one of the 70s Italian manufacturers whose wheels have all now basically melted because of a similar reaction - even shiny mint & boxed ones?

[flat4alfa]

On 6/20/2023 at 5:11 PM, flat4alfa said:

Never seen one of those, ever.  It was part of the 2021 range

Went Poundland in town centre.  Not one Matchbox in sight.  Wasted time.  However, store was luckily quite empty, so didn't catch fleas.

Just wanted a Matchbox 1979 Chevy Nova.  So got some Ibuprofen instead.

Found out reason why Poundland have it.  It's part of 2021 Mix 3 that like 2021 Mix 5, Tesco never got hold of.  But Poundland seem to have done so.

'09 International eStar
1957 Dodge Sweptside Pickup
1965 Land Rover Gen II
1971 MGB GT Coupe
1976 Honda CVCC
2011 MINI Countryman
2019 Ford Mustang Coupe
Ford F-550 Super Duty
Nissan NV Van
Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet
Road Stripe King
Skidster
Speed Trapper

[flat4alfa]

Dinky Mercedes-Benz W116 resin prototype

Sold at the Vectis 'Dinky Archive Collection Sale' December 2007 for £380

Sold again at the Vectis 'Specialist Diecast' November 2015 for £180

GR9 investment.

[flat4alfa]

Never knew about these either.  Matchbox Kingsize prototypes!

Not put my finger on what that was supposed to be.  I see elements of a few cars 

Oh I think that's supposed to be a Ferrari 365 GTC/4.  That's a bit of a lost opportunity.

Well I never.  So to make that work, the interconnected crankshafts must run to a differential at the front of the car?  I bet the torque steer is wonderful.

[bunglebus]

Can you imagine if they'd made that one? 50% more lost engine opportunities than a Gruesome Twosome!

Anyway I reckon it has a V drive taking power from the front crank under all the engines to the rear axle

[Jon]

Here's some more needless images of some diecasts from my cobbled together studio the other night;

I was getting a spy thriller/underworld vibe but am not sure that an Armstrong Siddley Sapphire quite fits!

P6 is made for the job, though. Transolite helps, too.

 

MGB driven by the vulnerable blonde with the smokey eyeliner.

 

That well known ne'er do well motor, the Austin 1800.

 

 

Token Yank action,  just because.

Apologies for the mostly small images, as many were uploading upside-down.

 

 

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Anyway I reckon it has a V drive taking power from the front crank under all the engines to the rear axle

Nah… Drivesome Threesome surely can’t be running a rear axle through the rear engine’s sump.  It be using free-wheeling hubs, that be it.  Successful innovation.  Last seen understeering dramatically into a ditch just outside Benfleet.

[Datsuncog]

3 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

It's part of 2021 Mix 3 that like 2021 Mix 5, Tesco never got hold of.  But Poundland seem to have done so.

'09 International eStar
1957 Dodge Sweptside Pickup
1965 Land Rover Gen II
1971 MGB GT Coupe
1976 Honda CVCC
2011 MINI Countryman
2019 Ford Mustang Coupe
Ford F-550 Super Duty
Nissan NV Van
Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet
Road Stripe King
Skidster
Speed Trapper

Ah, now that's interesting.

Back in March one branch of Poundland in Belfast had the long card Skidster and Speed Trapper (and only those two left by the time I noticed them - presumably they had the whole selection on the pegs at one stage), while a few weeks later another branch - the one which erroneously sold 2023 releases for 50p - had the green Land Rover, the green MGB, the white Civic, the cream and red Sweptside, the Speed Trapper and (probably) a few of the moderns and commercials.

Never saw a Chevy Nova in either store though. Or I'd have definitely had it.

Going by the sticker on the back, these were parallel imports via a Chinese distributor - not UK-designated stock.

I've still a spare Land Rover available, if anyone's keen.

[Datsuncog]

One of the few wet Fridays we've had this year, it seems.

Not, like, lashing - but a wee bit damper than expected.

Forward!

[flat4alfa]

THE TREE!
THE TREE!
ALL HAIL THE TREE OF TAT

[flat4alfa]

[TheOtherStu]

Why do I feel strangely excited?

[flat4alfa]

9 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Never saw a Chevy Nova in either store though. Or I'd have definitely had it.

I've still a spare Land Rover available, if anyone's keen.

Thanks.  I know I am good for those two

Did you say you had a spare Brazilian Hot One ?

(Best not Google that one either)

[Spottedlaurel]

It's a rare friday morning where I might be able to partake. Fingers crossed for a bumper selection of unboxed, playworn but honest Majorettes at 50p each....

[Datsuncog]

 

AND we're back.

The forum server crapped out just before 8am, as I was trying to upload some pics.

A pox on unstable hosting software.

Photos to follow... but before you all have your F5 keys mashed, I don't think it's quite as good a crop of tat as recent weeks have brought, sadly!

17 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Did you say you had a spare Brazilian Hot One ?

I do, as it happens... and an El Camino also. 

[TheOtherStu]

[Datsuncog]

So then, hiatus aside... bit of a drag getting in this morning, as there's gas mains being replaced along the Shore Road and the tailbacks are unreal, even at 7.15 in the morning.

Luckily*, it'll only take them 26 weeks to complete the works... yup, that's right: six months to install a bloody pipe, on a key transport corridor.

However, on finally getting in and getting parked, auspices were good:

The sight of a ropey P-reg Corolla E100 still plying its trade as a market load-lugger will lift the dampest of spirits, I'd say...

And yet, on stumbling in through the doors, it became evident that the Tat Stall was trying a different tack for diecast enticement today...

Oh great. Lledo.

I mean, they're not all that dear, but still...

So many that it required an overflow table to be set up alongside.

A lot of the Days Gone Vanguards were ones I'd owned in the past, bought back in the early '90s when they were very affordable and seemed quite decent.

But times move on, hey?

DC Thompson cartoons series were quite jolly, and foldout packaging was quite nicely done.

There were four or five of this range.

I'd never heard of 'The Bentley Collection' - but plainly this is another Lledo creation.

I suspect the dog-dick red isn't a genuine shade offered by Bentley, but all the same this one was not unappealing.

Up top, things were getting dearer...

NO OFFERS

Well, okay.

But we're looking at Corgi Classics, Matchbox MoYs and Atlas partworks, for the majority.

😕

[flat4alfa]

[Datsuncog]

A few more were set out as I snapped pics and (probably) grimaced...

Mostly Corgi, with a few Detail-Corgi to spice things up.

Detail Cars XJS wasn't all that brilliant, shape-wise.

BMW floppytop and Testarossa both loose and banging about, but not yet suffering catastrophic damage.

Loose Corgi Land Rover SII with some effort at weathering wasn't too bad.

Atlas Police vehicles, and more late-era Corgi Classics. Boxless Landcrab was one of few Vanguards going.

Vitesse commercials sub-brand City Models had a VW T1, Morris LD150 and Renault Estafette - though the Vee-Dub was yoinked shortly after.

Worth a tenner? Maybe.

Corgi/ Sunbeam Metrobuses perhaps optimistic enough at £10 - or maybe not, I dunno?

The Sash My Farrr Worrrrrrre was rather more expensive at £40, but provoked much excitement amongst the various giffers milling around, who seemingly quite like this sort of thing.

But we're here for the diecast, kids - politics thread is over there...

The generic Matchbox Collectables boxes gave me some hope, however - could they be examples of the American Muscle Car series?

Nope.

But they did have their certificates of authenticity, reassuringly. Phew.

Because we all know that ne'er-do-well copyists with access to industrial die-casting machines, professional painting facilities and packaging machinery won't also have a photocopier or inkjet printer.

I mean, these are really nicely done but just not my thing.

Dammit. No purple Dodge Challenger, no yellow Plymouth Super Bee.

The 'Beers of the World ' range did at least have its own unique packaging to help assuage disappointment.

Actually, this Bedford O Series isn't bad. And Tooheys New is one of the better Australian beers out there, IMHO.

But still - not today.

Smaller-scale Atlas Foden showman's rig was quite nice, mind.

But - tragically, no 50p Tat Box, no old Corgis, no real oddities today.

Hey ho.

Although - could our collective blood pressure even stand another week like that one a fortnight ago?

So I wandered off to see what else could be seen...

[Datsuncog]

Mulligan's Irish Gifts had more Hot Wheels, though apparently the guy who brings them in - the mysterious Hundred Hot Wheels Harry - is now asking more for them.

Interestingly, he also brings them along in original Mattel boxes - "but he always wants the boxes back", leaving Colin on the stall to transfer them into carrier bags.

Sounds to me like someone buying cases wholesale to fillet out treasure hunts and other chase cars to resell online, before punting on the dross.

£2.50 a pop now.

That's inflation for you, kids.

This FC RX7 was quite nice, all the same.

Colin on the stall was also bemoaning how the Oxford Diecast 00 scale Renault 4 has gone up from £7.50 last month to £8.99 this month.

He'd bought a new case of the Matchbox Germany Collection models, though - and they've been selling well enough at £2.99.

Nothing new down the 'proper' model end of the stall this week, though - although he'd bought a few Corgi Model Club models off someone secondhand, and they were selling quite briskly at £20 a throw. However he'd only brought one in with him today, the Porsche Carrera 6, and that was because someone had already agreed to buy it and pick it up today from St George's.

Onwards, then...

[quicksilver]

19 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

 

Smaller-scale Atlas Foden showman's rig was quite nice, mind.

Joby Carter's nemesis! He hates this model as it looks nothing like any vehicle his family ever owned and Atlas never asked permission to use the name. There's loads of them about as they were the £2.99 introductory model. He did a video where he ran one over with the real gallopers truck but that wasn't as satisfyingly destroyed as the one he crushed with a hydraulic crane leg.

The 'mickey mouse' Foden cab casting (from Corgi's Trackside range) is nicely done but the rest is pretty poor so they're okay as conversion fodder but nothing more.

[Datsuncog]

One of the slightly more, ahem, singular punters had sidled up to me at the main Tat Stall and mentioned something garbled about soldiers, and diecast, and "all the wee models" while pointing over in the general direction of the Charity Stall.

So that seemed a promising place to wander next.

However, my dreams of overflowing buckets of three-for-a-pound Majorettes were cruelly dashed...

Other than some pleasingly retro motor oil cans, there wasn't really anything much vehicle related to be seen.

A Corgi B-17 was about the height of it.

Seemingly these little metal figures is what matey-boy was getting all hot under the collar about.

Well, alright.

I could also have had an infant gas mask, had the fancy taken me...

...and just how dangerous were old TVs?

The 50p end of the stall was mostly clothes this week, rather than CDs or indeed diecast:

Though there was a small box of unwanted household goods and assorted rammel, containing one of the more distressing candles I've ever encountered:

Can you even imagine what this would look like as it was melting?

Actually, don't imagine it - you won't like it...

[Datsuncog]

So, it all came down to Alan and his Eponymous Emporium to swing into action, and rescue Tat Friday from the doldrums!

Ah.

Oh.

Well, never mind.

Alan, in fairness, noticed me hovering over his wares and apologised for the lack of diecast lately - he's been looking for more, but his usual outlets (apparently, car boot sales in Manchester) have been letting him down lately with slim pickings.

So - that, as they say, was pretty much that.

Although, I imagine the denizens of DinoShite.com are having a magnificent Tat Friday.

Swings and roundabouts, hey?

[Jon]

Here's a question for those in the know (mostly @AndyW201, I'm imagining!) - is this a sought after version of a Vanguards Nova?

 

Rally stuff tends to do quite well, as the Richard Burns 205 GTI I had can attest to; Andy sold it on my behalf and it paid for an awful lot of the many diecasts I took back to NZ with me!

I've got a Richard Burns Sunbeam for similar shenanigans at some point, so would happily buy this to speculate and add to my future die cast slush fund. Or buy on someone else's behalf, if they've been hanging out for one for years.

Should it attract no bids, the start price is under £20 and ends this weekend.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/4184012493

 

[AndyW201]

10 minutes ago, Jon said:

Here's a question for those in the know (mostly @AndyW201, I'm imagining!) - is this a sought after version of a Vanguards Nova?

 

Rally stuff tends to do quite well, as the Richard Burns 205 GTI I had can attest to; Andy sold it on my behalf and it paid for an awful lot of the many diecasts I took back to NZ with me!

I've got a Richard Burns Sunbeam for similar shenanigans at some point, so would happily buy this to speculate and add to my future die cast slush fund. Or buy on someone else's behalf, if they've been hanging out for one for years.

Should it attract no bids, the start price is under £20 and ends this weekend.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/4184012493

 

The Colin McRae Nova is (obviously) the more sought after Nova rally variant, but this one is still desirable. I've been after one for a while, the guy I got the dirty MK1 Transit and Chrysler Works Sunbeam rally cheap from last year also had one of these Novas up for £11, but had just sold it when I asked. Gutted.

However if you can snag it for the starting bid, it could go for roughly double that (or not far off,) on eBay over here.

[Datsuncog]

I took a wander over to grab myself a coffee, and had intended to edit and post a bunch of pics on the fly but the forum seemed to have conked out again.

So I supped my wanky latte and wondered whether I could even be arsed to go over to the office today - as the scheduled meeting had been postponed, and frankly the thought of sitting in a big dark office by myself listening to the rain drumming against the filthy window was about as appealing as all those Lledo Days Gone...

Nah. Fuggit. 

Had there been a decent crop of tat, I'd have skipped over in the hope of securing some nice models for you fine folks over lunchtime, but I couldn't see anyone's pickle being tickled by MoY traction engines and DG Ford Model T vans.

So I scarpered off home, to work remotely.

I did stop off at the 'good' Poundland at Cityside Retail Park, just in case more cases of 2021 Matchbox had come through, but apparently not.

Just three examples of the universally unloved Speed Trapper remained from the elusive '21 case - all Chinese parallel imports.

A few stray early '23 Matchbox models remained, but it was mainly Hot Wheels dominating the pegs now.

And I think we've all had our fill of these, no?

Well - you gotta check, don't you?

A quick look into the nearby B&M indicated that Ultra Hots are no longer available.

So, home again to crank up the laptop... but I didn't arrive back with nothing to show for my endeavours...

[w00dy]

With nothing new on the Hot Wheels and Matchbox scene I was pleased to get this Majorette DS. At £3 in Asda they now seem pretty good value.

There were a couple of premium Hot Wheels Fast and Furious models with a nice Land Cruiser, but not £9 nice.

[flat4alfa]

Last time I went big Asda they had nothing!

Will have to look into this.  Didn't know about that DS.  Are there other classics in the current range?    *goes off to have a look*